North Texas Area Universities to Tout
Graduate Physics Offerings at Nov. 3 Event

First
Annual Workshop Aims to Increase Enrollment in Field

RICHARDSON, Texas (Oct. 23, 2001) - A group of public and private
universities in North Texas will promote their graduate-level physics
programs to prospective students at a unique, day-long workshop
scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 3, at The University of Texas at Dallas
(UTD).

The first annual “North Texas Graduate Programs in Physics Workshop”
will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in UTD’s Kusch Auditorium - an
appropriate venue, since it is named after the late Polykarp Kusch, a
Nobel laureate in physics and UTD professor.

The event will feature representatives of at least nine universities,
including Austin College, Baylor University, the University of Dallas,
the University of North Texas, Southern Methodist University, Stephen F.
Austin State University, the University of Texas at Arlington, Texas
Christian University and UTD. In addition, several other Texas
universities may participate.

“Graduate student enrollment in physics at area universities has
been flat or gradually declining over the last decade,” said Dr.
William Burgett, a visiting professor of physics at UTD and organizer of
the workshop. “We envision the workshop as a recruiting tool, where
institutions can promote their graduate physics offerings and increase
their enrollment in a field that is very vital to the future of this
area, this state and this nation.

“This forum will provide a level playing field so that all schools
have equal opportunity and access to what we hope will be a relatively
large pool of prospective students.”

The target audience for the workshop will be area college juniors and
seniors who are majoring in physics, according to Burgett. At the event,
they will be able to view presentations by many of the universities,
gather information and materials about various graduate-level programs
and meet physics faculty from participating schools.

There is no charge to attend the event, and a free lunch will be
provided to those in attendance.

The University of Texas at Dallas, located
at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the
complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the
Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 7,000 undergraduate and 5,000
graduate students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at
the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT
scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s
and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD,
please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.